Inhabitants
In the Empire's lands, there are three races of intelligent people-- Fortmen, the youngest; People, the oldest, and Quietmen, the ones in between. Each has its own talents and weaknesses, but they all work together to make society work, and without even one of them present, all of the citizens believe it would be the end of their world as they know it. The Fortmen Fortmen are the highest population race in the Empire, but also the shortest lived. They are agile, smart, strong, and creative, and have incredible learning capacity; they are ideal for many duties and jobs that involve numbers, documenting, and designing. They are named for their invention of protective walls that aren't part of a building, but instead surround a piece of land. Fortmen flesh ranges from light golden-brown to medium golden-brown. Their hair can be coarse, thin, curly, straight, or anything in between. Hair colors range from pale yellow to orange, to brown and black. Fortmen eyes are shaped wider and less angled than the People's. This race's eyes come in brown most commonly, but blue and green are not unheard of. Rarer colors include violet, hazel, and grey. They have two legs, two arms, a thin layer of fat over their muscles, and walk upright naturally. Each hand has four fingers and a thumb, and each foot has five toes. Their ears are round with lobes at the bottom, and positioned at the sides of their heads. Their soft, flexible lips are thicker than People's and thinner than Quietmen, and they have a combination of molars and sharper biting teeth. Their heights range from four and a half to six and a half feet at their most extreme. Talents Fortmen are gifted with incredible creativity and intellect. They learn quickly, and their ability to combine existing ideas into new ideas is something rare in the other races, making Fortmen the most inventive and best at problem-solving. Fertility and Lifespan Fortmen live to 100 at most, and have a very high rate of fertility. It isn't uncommon for fortmen parents to have one child every year starting when they marry at about sixteen. Thanks to cooperation with People, the Fortmen's mortality rate has dropped steeply. Fortmen can interbreed with either People or Quietmen to produce viable offspring. The People The People are an ancient people who according to their legends, get their ancestry from the Green Elder himself. These beliefs have since been forbidden alongside Green Elder worship, which once encompassed all peoples. Often compared to foxes, they share nothing biologically in common. People are bipedal with two arms, four fingers and a thumb on each hand, and four toes on each foot. They have smooth hairless skin that comes in a variety of shades of grey-blue to grey-purple, from pale to dark. They have sharply angled, narrow eyes that point down toward the tip of their very pointed noses. Their eyes range in color from yellow to green, blue, purple, and grey. Brighter versions of the hues are less common than dark, and white is one of the most uncommon. This race's cheekbones are very prominent and angular, as are their chins. Their ears are wide and pointed upward, situated at the sides of their heads, and about six inches long. The People have recessed hairlines, often with prominent widow peaks, and their hair is thin and limp. Natural colors for them range wildly, but are never bright. Their flexible lips are thin, and they have a combination of molars and sharper biting teeth. Their heights range from three and a half feet to five and a half at their most extreme. Talents The People are very agile and magically-gifted. They aren't physically strong, nor do they resist disease well. They do not learn very quickly, but can spot patterns easily. They have the most potent paternal and maternal urges of any of the races. Fertility and Lifespan With a lifespan that isn't known, they're often considered the longest-lived simply because disease is the main cause of death, snuffing their lives anytime between one hundred and one thousand years of age. Each Person is likely to have only three at most young in its lifetime due to low sex drives and lower fertility. The exception to this is when they breed with a Fortman, which increases the amount of offspring in their lifespan thanks to human ingenuity leading to higher sex drives on both sides. The People are incompatible with Quietmen. The Quietmen Quietmen are named for their usually quiet, thoughtful natures. They are incredibly patient and hardy. Quietmen are bipedal with two arms, four fingers and a thumb on each hand, and five toes on each foot. They have rough skin covered in fine fur. Their bodies range from varius browns to anywhere between grey-yellow, grey-green, and grey-blue, and their coloration is typically dull midtones. Their jaws and faces are square, with narrow eyes and prominent brows. Quietmen have narrow, unslanted eyes that are red, brown, yellow, black, or green. Blind Quietmen have very pale eyes. This race has very bulky bodies, with a thick layer of fat over an even thicker layer of muscle. Their noses are wide and flat, and they have thick, firm lips around sharp-toothed mouths with large fangs. Their ears are round and attached to the sides of their faces. Their heights range from six to ten feet at their most extreme. Talents Vastly skilled with dealings of the body, Quietmen are not only excellent killers, but also excellent defenders. They have instinctual knowledge of their own anatomy, and can translate it onto the other races. They learn quickly, though struggle with literacy and counting. Memorization is difficult as well unless they have visual aids. Quietmen are physically the strongest race, and build muscle easily, making them quick and tough. Like the People, Quietmen have magic, but they cannot use it through instinct alone, and require shamanistic rituals to speak to the spirits around them to bring about the changes they wish for. Though Quietmen are gifted with vast patience, not all have enough for dealings with the fickle spirits of nature. Fertility and Lifespan Quietmen most often live to around three hundred years of age. They have moderate sex drive and moderate fertility, though both of these stats raise significantly if their significant other is a Fortman. Quietmen are unable to procreate with the People. It is not often advised for Fortmen or People to mate with male Quietmen, because Quietmen have barbed phalluses.